Browning's Big Final Day Overcame Many Miscues

Stephen Browning won the Red River Bassmaster Central Open despite a day-2 bag that was shy of a limit and numerous other missed opportunities.

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Stephen Browning's victory at last week's Red River Bassmaster Central Open was proof-positive that an angler doesn't have to have everything go his way to win a high-level tournament. The veteran Arkansan lost numerous fish that would've helped him along the way and even weighed a day-2 bag that was two short of a limit.

None of that mattered in the end, however, as he rose from 12th place on the final day to claim the title with a 3-day total of 40-10. His 16-10 stringer on the final day was more than 2 pounds better than any of the other 11 remaining competitors managed in a tight-weight event.

He outdistanced runner-up Wesley Strader by 1-08. The triumph earned him a prize package worth nearly $48,000 and a berth in next year's Bassmaster Classic.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

Browning arrived in the Shreveport, La. area in the early afternoon on the Monday before the tournament and launched his boat at Coushatta, which is at the lower end of Pool 4.

"I wanted to check some backwaters and sloughs down there that normally have some fish," he said. "I've fished four or five tournaments there over the years and the area reminds me of the Arkansas River where I grew up. I'm comfortable down there."

He spent the whole afternoon in the neighborhood of Sullivan's Lake and got five bites, including one of high quality that was enticed by a hookless Z-Man ChatterBait. He also picked up two on a square-bill crankbait that combined to go about 7 pounds.

He went all the way down to Natchitoches (Pool 3) for his second practice day in the hope that he might come across a loaded stretch that he could have all to himself. He never found a good concentration of fish, but managed to hook one on the crankbait that was in excess of 6 pounds.

"That particular bite gave me the confidence to keep the square-bill tied on," he said. "It seemed like the bites I was getting on it, at least the ones I was able to look at, were the right ones."

A storm front with high winds arrived for the final practice day, and he opted to remain in Pool 5 (the launch pool) and managed just two bites all day.

"As you can tell, my practice wasn't very good. That was probably a blessing, though, because if it had all been good, I probably would've had too much going on."

Competition

> Day 1: 5, 10-14
> Day 2: 5, 13-13
> Day 3: 5, 14-05

Browning opted to spend the majority of the tournament in Pool 4, even though trip down and back would limit his fishing time to about 5 hours. He ended up catching five keepers on the square-bill and two more on the ChatterBait from a huge stump field on day 1, and his best five landed him in 38th place.

He returned on day 2 and the first fish he caught pushed 6 pounds.

"That gave me the feeling that I was doing the right thing in a good area and that I just needed to keep grinding," he said. "I caught that one off a laydown, and then I got another one off another laydown that was about 3 pounds.

"All of that happened within the first 45 minutes I was down there. After that, the rest of the day was a struggle."

He eventually picked up a Z-Man ElaZtech ZinkerZ in a quest to catch three keepers of any sort to fill out his limit. He got the bites he needed, but missed all of them, including a 4-pounder.

"I had a chance to have a big bag and I was really upset with myself."

He locked back through with about 15 minutes of fishing time remaining and hit an area near the launch that he'd worked during the 2000 Forrest Wood Cup. He'd caught a small keeper there the previous day, and this time he tied into a 4 1/2-pounder that took the square-bill. That fish represented the difference between advancing to the final day and heading home with a finish outside the Top 50.

He then entered the final day with a good bit of optimism.

"I had a realistic chance of catching 18 to 20 pounds on day 2, and I knew if I got that same quality of bites and put them in the boat, I'd have a chance to win," he said. "River systems change every day and because of the pressure some places get, guys stumble."

He had about 40 minutes of fishing time before he could lock through, and he picked up one keeper and lost a 3 1/2-pounder from an area at the bottom of Pool 5. His co-angler also caught two solid fish before they departed.

Upon arrival at Sullivan's, he quickly lost one in the 3-pound range, and that turned out to be his only bite in 2 1/2 hours.

"I decided I couldn't live and die with that deal – I had to try to make something happen. I decided to go back to the place where we'd gotten the bites that morning."

He lost two more fish right off the bat there, and then made an adjustment that made all the difference.

"There was something about that (crankbait) that they didn't want and they were swiping at it and not getting it. I went to a bigger bait that had just a little more subtle wobble to it. The first fish I got was a 2-pounder and he had it the way you want them to get it – with a mouthful of hooks."

He had a limit within about 5 minutes and culled up to approximately 13 pounds over the next hour. With 10 minutes left, he visited a laydown where he'd lost a 3-pounder prior to locking through to Pool 4.

Photo: Z-Man

A Z-Man ChatterBait accounted for some of Browning's weigh-in fish.

"I eased up to it, and it was just loaded. I caught six fish in those last few minutes, including a 4 1/2, a 3 1/2 and one that was probably pushing 3.

"I thought I was in the 15-pound range and figured that I'd move up (in the standings) and get a pretty good check. It never really hit me that I'd caught 16-10 until the fish were on the scale, and then it was a good little rush to watch (the rest of the weigh-in) unfold."

Pattern Notes

Browning used a relatively high-speed reel to move his crankbaits in an erratic fashion. He focused on driftwood laydowns in 3 to 5 feet of water that were close to sandbar drops.

"I crashed (the bait) into everything I could possibly crash it into," he said. "The thing about a square-bill is if you try to slow it down, it doesn't deflect as well and it gets hung up a lot. A little extra speed makes it deflect better."

> Main factor in his success – "I think just having confidence in the crankbait and the feeling that I was catching quality over quantity. There was some mental fatigue with not getting many bites, but when I did get one, most of them were good ones and they were the kind I needed to win."

> Performance edge – "My Triton/Mercury allowed me to move in and out of that stump field in a very quiet manner, and as fast as I was able to run down there and back, in probably got me an extra 10 or 15 minutes of fishing time over the course of the tournament. Also, I'm a big believer in the HydroWave – I'm convinced that it gets things fired up and causes the fish to be a little more aggressive."

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